English Country Life In The Barsetshire Novels Of Angela Thirkell

Author : Laura Collins
Publisher : Praeger
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book English Country Life in the Barsetshire Novels of Angela Thirkell written by Laura Collins and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1994-11-30 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the publication in 1932 of Angela Thirkell's first Barsetshire novel, her fans eagerly awaited a new book in the series, and they were rewarded annually for the next 27 years. Drawing upon the entire body of Barsetshire novels (set in Trollope's imaginary county whose seat, Barchester, is a cathedral town), Laura Collins shows Angela Thirkell's larger purposes in chronicling the daily lives of the rural English. English Country Life demonstrates Thirkell's conviction that loyalty to family, county, and country is the essential bond that strengthens middle-class culture; her close acquaintance with the English countryside, her high regard for the wit and wisdom of its people, and her firm conviction that the strong family unit is the backbone of the nation, are recurrently illustrated in the Barsetshire series. Collins traces the development of representative county families and their responses to the forces of political and economic decline. The book conveys Thirkell's mastery of detail in recreating life on the county's estates and farms, and in towns and villages, reflecting the cultural changes forced upon all social classes by the two World Wars and their aftermath. Collins shows how Thirkell's own life is reflected in her county chronicles. Perhaps most significantly, Collins believes Thirkell's own experiences as a daughter and as a mother to three sons is reflected throughout the novels, revealing largely in hindsight the touching ironies as well as the comedy of these relations. In the course of these narratives, her sharp sense of human nature is seen at its best when she introduces readers to the many babies, toddlers, and adolescents who grow up in Barsetshire. Making extensive use of the series, Collins demonstrates convincingly that Thirkell presents an authentic record of upper middle-class English country life. For public libraries and research collections where Angela Thirkell's novels are read, enjoyed, and studied.

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091132
Total Pages : 532 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Private Enterprise written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amid food shortages and grumbling, Barsetshire is unsettled by the arrival of a pretty war widow in this “delicately humorous [and] entertaining” novel (The New York Times). World War II may be over, but its effects linger in the English countryside as the local ladies trade ration coupons for a paltry selection of provisions. It’s feeling like a bleak summer—but it won’t be a boring one, now that flirtatious young widow Peggy Arbuthnot and her sister-in-law, Effie, are on the scene. Peggy has quite a few admirers—including Noel Merton, which is rather unfortunate for his wife. Suspense reigns over who might win Peggy’s hand—and whether the Merton marriage will survive . . . “Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091108
Total Pages : 411 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Happy Returns written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness,[and] dislike of fuss. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker As 1951 draws to a close, Christmas approaches—but the conservative upper class of Barsetshire have already received the gift they really wanted: Winston Churchill’s re-election as prime minister. Nevertheless, their individual struggles carry on. A member of the House of Lords worries that marriage is not in the cards for him due to an insufficient fortune, while another man does manage to get engaged—but frets that his betrothed doesn’t truly love him. The widow Lady Lufton misses her husband—as well as the money she’s lost to taxes. And an aspiring scholar falls madly in love, but must choose between Oxford and the object of his affections . . . “[This] characteristically witty, nostalgic . . . novel in the beloved Barsetshire series describes the lingering effects of WWII on the fictional village that Thirkell adapted from its Victorian inventor and chronicler, Anthony Trollope.” —Publishers Weekly

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091086
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Close Quarters written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A widow goes house-hunting in Barsetshire in this witty, moving novel by an author of “graceful stories of upper-class English life” (The New York Times). One rainy summer, amid the social and cultural changes of postwar England, Mrs. Macfadyen wrestles with the loss of her beloved husband after just five years of happiness. Life has left her uprooted—but where can she replant herself? The hunt for a new house (preferably not too close to her mother’s) will involve everyone from friends and neighbors to an old suitor and the local clergy, but ultimately the decision—and her future—is up to her . . . Recreating Anthony Trollope’s fictional county and bringing it into the mid-twentieth century, Angela Thirkell tells a tale filled with heartache, humor, and sharp social observation. “It is in [Mrs. Macfadyen’s] fitful remembrance, quiet loneliness and gentle acceptance, that one realizes her author’s sense of the poetry in life, and her sympathetic ear for the nuances of pain.” —The New York Times

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091124
Total Pages : 380 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Never too Late written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A picturesque community in postwar England comes together when it counts in this witty, moving novel in the “beloved” Barsetshire series (Publishers Weekly). Edith Graham is still single when she returns from America to visit Mrs. Morland, and there’s no shortage of interested men—until three suitors find each other such good company that they start socializing together and ignoring her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Morland has received a marriage proposal herself and needs to let the dear man down gently. But while these day-to-day problems preoccupy the two women and their Barsetshire neighbors, they will soon be united by a poignant loss . . . “Here are the familiar cross-county conversations, the disentangling of relationships, the good pieces of meddling and the criticisms and comments that embroider this ever-unfolding panorama of English life.” —Kirkus Reviews “Thirkell writes in a charmingly easy and intimate style.” —The New York Times “Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness, dislike of fuss, and low-key irony. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091116
Total Pages : 399 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Love at All Ages written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a starry-eyed teenager to an elderly clergyman, it seems no one is immune to romance in the county of Barsetshire . . . In the long-running and beloved series that brings Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire into the mid-twentieth century and offers “a fresh, original, witty interpretation of England’s social history,” the quirky inhabitants and well-bred families of the county find themselves navigating the delights and uncertainties of love (The New York Times). Lady Gwendolyn Harcourt, no spring chicken, is courted by the aging Reverend Oriel of Harefield. And on the other end of the generational spectrum, fresh-faced sixteen-year-old Lavinia Merton may have a future marriage prospect in her singing partner Ludovic, Lord Mellings . . . “Thirkell’s gently meandering account of the diversions of Barsetshire society leaves nothing to be desired.” —New York Herald Tribune “To read [Thirkell] is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091175
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Did It Mean? written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Elizabeth II’s coronation draws near, the gentry of Barsetshire engage in preparations, committee meetings, and “their perennially amusing antics” (The New York Times). A new queen is about to be crowned, and the prominent families of Barsetshire intend to make a good impression amid the festivities. Fortunately, the highly capable Lydia Merton takes the helm of the local committee planning for the big event. All she needs to do is keep calm and carry on through the squabbling, the petty jealousies, and the occasional disaster . . . “The Thirkell wit presides with tongue-rolling malice.” —The New York Times “Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091078
Total Pages : 391 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Double Affair written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “charming troupe” of Barsetshire inhabitants celebrate a spate of marriages—while one young woman bemoans her prospects—in this novel of 1950s English life (The New York Times). The locals are all talking about the upcoming wedding of the vicar of Hatch End to the much-loved Miss Merriman—in fact, the couple’s friends and neighbors seem even more excited than the bride- and groom-to-be. But that’s to be expected when a couple of a certain age tie the knot, because it reminds everyone that it’s never too late for love. And though Edith Graham is increasingly gloomy about landing a husband, the romantic spirit of the event just might be contagious . . . “Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews “[Thirkell’s] talent for easy, light characterization does not seem to be flagging.” —The Times Literary Supplement

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091094
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Enter Sir Robert written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The missing lord of the manor looms large in this quirky novel by an author who offers “a fresh, original, witty interpretation of England’s social history” (The New York Times). Lady Graham is anticipating the long-awaited appearance of Sir Robert, finally retiring from his glorious military career and globetrotting adventures a decade after the end of World War II. In the meantime, life at Holdings goes on and Lady Graham’s youngest, eighteen-year-old Edith, has her pick of suitors. It is unclear, however, if she will make up her mind about them any time soon—and if she will exit Holdings before her father enters . . . “Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews

Author : Angela Thirkell
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504091167
Total Pages : 301 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Three Score and Ten written by Angela Thirkell and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-23 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barsetshire gathers to celebrate a milestone birthday at the Old Bank House in this conclusion to the much-loved, long-running series. A home is saved from destruction, a budding romance takes steps toward the altar, a doctor experiences the return of a former love—and the fine people of Barsetshire make plans for a festive extravaganza to mark Mrs. Morland’s seventieth birthday . . . “Triumphantly completed” by Angela Thirkell’s close friend C. A. Lejeune after Thirkell’s death, Three Score and Ten features a host of new and old friends from the author’s acclaimed series spanning decades of English country life (The New York Times). “Her writing celebrates the solid parochial English virtues of stiff-upper-lippery, good-sportingness, dislike of fuss, and low-key irony. . . . Light, witty, easygoing books.” —The New Yorker “Where Trollope would have been content to arouse a chuckle, [Thirkell] is constantly provoking us to hilarious laughter. . . . To read her is to get the feeling of knowing Barsetshire folk as well as if one had been born and bred in the county.” —Kirkus Reviews